Racing Overview

Racing overview

You will need a licence to race in all XC MTB events.
A licence may be obtained from Cycling Ireland (CI)
You do not need to be a member of a club to join Cycling Ireland.
You may either pay for a full year off-road race licence at a cost of 80euro (plus approx. 3 euro admin charge),
or you can purchase a 1-day licence on the day of the event .
It is entirely up to yourself as to which licence option you will purchase, but the 1 year option is generally better value.

A one day licence costs euro15 to a non Cycling Ireland member and euro10 to a Cycling Ireland member.
Youth riders are free.
It is planned that Clubs will be provided with a special sign on sheet/pad by Cycling Ireland.
Until this is issued, Clubs should keep a seperate entry sheet for one day licences, taking a riders name and address, and fee paid.
It is up to the Club organising the event to make the one day returns to CI Office.
If you purchase the one-year licence and are a club member, the licence will get posted to your club secretary, you can then collect the licence from your club secretary.
If you are not a club member, your licence will get posted directly to you.
You need to produce your licence at race sign-on, so keep your licence safe!

Events:
There are many XC racing events during the year, these can include:
NPS XC series
National XC Champs
EPIC Blast
K-Capital Cup series
Marathon Champs
Adventure races
Club/inter-club leagues/races

Other events can also be scheduled, check here for the latest race schedule information.
Below is an explanation of the format of the various racing events:

NPS XC (National Points Series Cross-Country)
This series of events is run over a time period from (approx) May to Aug/Sep each year.
Each rider competes to attain points over the series.
The points scheme for 2007 can be seen on the Points Scheme tab here

The NPS consists of approx between 5 to 8 race events at various locations in Ireland.
A course lap is generally between 5.5 to 6.5km, and includes some sections of fireroad,
but mostly singletrack.
Race categories are as follows:

Category	Description/Info
Elite	Senior riders, highest/most skilled category, typically 7 laps
Vets	Riders aged 40 yrs and over, typically 4 laps
Masters	Riders aged 30 to 40 yrs, typically 5 laps
Expert	Senior riders, typically 5 laps
Sports	Senior riders, typically 2 laps
Juniors	Riders under 18 age, typically 5 laps
Under 16	Riders under 16 yrs, typically 3 laps
Under 14	Riders under 14 yrs (small course)
Under 12	Riders under 12 yrs (small course)

National XC Championships
This single event is usually run in July each year, it consists of the same categories as the NPS

EPIC Blast
This event is run once or twice a year and is hosted/run by EPIC club.
The format of this race is unique in that it combines XC with DH (Downhill)
Blast race format:
Each rider competes in an initial heat of 10 riders.
The riders resulting place from this heat determines which heat final they go into.
The final race involves ALL riders being lined-up together, everyone starts at the same time, first to the bottom wins.
Check the EPIC website for further info

K-Capital Cup UCI-C2
This event will be run over 4 meetings and is scheduled for April and March in 2007.
The cream of Irish talent will be battling it out with top class riders from abroad seeking to obtain valuble UCI World ranking points.
The series is organised by a group of clubs keen on promoting the standard of cross country racing in Ireland.
Venues for the race series include Wicklow, Louth, and County Down.
The races in the KCapital cup are UCI International C2 category, it consists of the same categories as the NPS.

UCI points will be awarded to the Elite riders and races will be run under UCI regulations.
Fully detailed info is here: Official K-Capital Cup website

Marathon XC Champs
This single event is usually run in September each year.
It consists of a single lap of a course which can be from 50km to 80km long.
This is a very physically strenuous event and is ideally suited to riders with intermediate/advanced experience.

Adventure races
Ireland is experiencing a massive groundswell of interest in Adventure Racing,and with good reason.
We have some of the best terrain in the world for delivering challenging
yet accessable events, with every type of physical challenge imaginable on our doorstep.
As a result, several adventure races are scheduled each year which incorporate an XC MTB section.

Club/inter-club leagues/races
Various clubs hold league races in which their members compete for positions.
There are also inter-club races where members from different clubs can race each other in the same race series/league.
These races are excellent training and experience for such races as the NPS series.